The Boy In The Staircase
by B.A.D-Class
Summary: The house was a dream he'd had that had never come true, just without somebody to indulge with. It would've been every other person's dream to live in the house, and he couldn't resist to search the house and spot all of the Master's precious secrets. But there's one secret that his father refuses to reveal to him - what lies beneath the stairs.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Okay, so, I know I have Puppet to keep updating, but ugh I'm honestly a huge fan of Koisuru Dorei by Tetsuhiro Morinaga (bby), legit I even asked if I could freaking draw a manga for it. **

**And then while waiting anxiously for the next chapter to be uploaded (which I'm still waiting for wink wink) I got inspired to write this.**

**So, yeah. I really hope you like this! It'll be a lot less vulgar and violent than Puppet, and it will have a lot more sweetness to it. However, it will probably end up in the M rated section later on.**

**And I won't put a warning or anything in this chapter, but the next chapter and the following chapters I will. I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Well, this was it. The day that Tetsuhiro would leave his birth home in Fukuoka and move away to a desolate town somewhere else. He thought that it was a stupid idea; why would they need to leave the house they were in right now: People usually moved away when they weren't being given something that they really needed. He'd grown up in this house, and he was pretty sure that he had everything he needed. Fukuoka, besides being a close-minded town, was a good place for him to stay; it was where all his friends were, where all the trails of his curriculum were. He didn't need to move away; they just didn't need to.

He had friends here, even some relationships, and while some of them died off, he didn't want to leave his memories forever. God knows how far he would be from his best friend, Hiroto. He didn't want to be away from the many people that loved him and the baseball team he played on and the cheerleaders he hung out with and –

"Tetsuhiro, can you please snap out of your thoughts and help me pack these boxes?" came his father's gruff voice.

Sigh. Why should he have to help? It was his father's decision to leave, not his.

"Why?" Tetsuhiro groaned, not wanting to move from the counter he currently sat on top of. His fingers brushed over the pile of papers at his side; they were basically his dropout forms. They were leaving and he couldn't stay in school. His father poked his head out from behind the kitchen doorway.

"Because we need to leave by tonight! The landlords are coming back tomorrow and if we're still here by the time they get here, we get charged a fine. Okay? It was hard enough to afford the new house as is, don't make me shell out more than I need to."

His father, Hito, was a sophisticated but very selfish man. He insisted that he thought of others and did things for other people, when in reality they always benefited his wallet in the end. He made choices that he assumed other people would like when he was only thinking of himself. He was obsessed with his money and wasn't interested in marrying or dating or having a social life.

"I don't understand why we have to move when I'm going into my last year of high school. You couldn't just wait till I finished?"

"It's not that easy, Tetsuhiro. We needed to move. My job required it and there's a nice school by the house. You might like it."

"What if I hate it? What if people hate me because I'm gay?"

Hito almost choked on his saliva. "Stop mentioning that."

"Well, you gotta get used to it sometime." Tetsuhiro muttered while duct taping a box of his old childhood toys and setting it next to him on the counter. He was told that whatever he wanted to keep would be boxed up and put in the bath of the van, and whatever was useless would be thrown away. Of course, he didn't want to get rid of anything he owned; everything was as important to him as air. He never wanted to erase any of his memories, good or bad.

"And I will. When you move out of my house." Hito looked straight into his son's eyes, power and rue burning in them.

"Could you be any ruder?" Tetsuhiro glanced up, tossing his inky hair back. The gall that this man had to insult him to his face was unbelievable.

"Yes I actually could. I am the adult in this situation and I will say as I please." Hito placed a taped box in front of the front door, amongst the pile of everything else that had yet to go in the car.

"Dad, why can't you just accept who I am?" Tetsuhiro sighed, his shoulders slumping down. "I'm a good student, I work all day for us to have a lot of money, and then you just treat me like shit! All because you're too worried about your damn wallet."

"You watch your mouth, young man. You may be seventeen but you sure don't understand finances." Hito's eyes were sharp and firm, practically daring him to talk back.

"I understand finances well enough!" He used his hands to slide down off of the counter, immediately standing taller than his bulky father. "You couldn't just pay the damn fine? Who in their right mind would choose a five hundred thousand dollar house over a five hundred dollar fine?"

"First of all young man," The box in his hands came crashing to the floor, the sound of glass shattering along with his threatening voice echoing through the empty kitchen, "what authority do you think you have to speak to me this way? I am your father, Tetsuhiro! I say what goes on in this house and you do not."

"I'm taller than you." Tetsuhiro said nonchalantly, as if he were just saying hello to a friend he saw on a daily basis.

"What difference does that make? You definitely didn't get it from my genes, and you most certainly didn't get your attitude from my genes."

Tetsuhiro chuckled to himself but bit his tongue. He knew he could go on, but that would result in getting hit, and his father hit hard. Hito had a history of abuse with his wife, which he simply shrugged off as light playing. He was too crude to dare put himself in the position of the villain.

"Now pick this shit up." Hito grumbled while kicking the fallen box full of broken glass. Rude bastard, Tetsuhiro thought, he'd been this way ever since mom died. Ever since she left him and committed suicide.

He didn't speak but simply complied with his father's request, moving the box from the floor to the kitchen table. He sighed as he picked through the shards of glass, trying to make out what these memoirs had been before. He noticed an old gold watch, and his mom's tennis bracelet, and her favorite wine glasses, and her favorite bedside lamp…

"You broke them." He said in a barely audible voice.

His father turned and looked up, coal eyes peaking beneath mousy hair. "Pardon?"

"I said you broke them!" Tetsuhiro raised his voice, the pain visible in his eyes.

"What, the glass?" He asked, pointing casually to the box in his son's disdained hands. "Eh, no big deal, just toss it out in the back garbage if we can't bring it-"

"They were mom's memories!"

This time Hito didn't retaliate. He stood there, staring at the box as if it were full of dead kittens. The look on his face was unreadable, and Tetsuhiro couldn't tell if his father was regretting what he did or if he was impatient to slap his son.

"Well they weren't any good anyway, might as well throw them out now… I'm surprised I never got to doing it myself." Hito said just above a whisper. Rage flowed into Tetsuhiro's veins, and he had to dig his nails into his palms to calm it down. How he wanted to just beat the living daylights out of his father, but he couldn't. As much as he hated to admit it, Hito really was his father figure. He had to listen to him and respect him, and that was both the governmental rule and the Japanese way of life.

"I swear, you don't care about anyone but yourself…"

"What, son?"

Tetsuhiro knew his argument was going to be fruitless. His dad had never cared about him in any way, shape, or form. Whenever he had wanted to have a boy over, his dad immediately refused to let the other boy into the house. Whenever he had wanted to go out to a house party with some friends, his dad would apply to chaperone. He felt suffocated and never got time just to himself. He never got to hang out with anybody and just enjoy the close proximity of another person.

"Nothing. Just get this stuff in the car and let's go, dad."

* * *

The more that the drive stretched on, the worse Tetsuhiro's temper became. As they sped mile after mile to god knows where this house was, the more he wished that his father would just spontaneously combust in the driver seat. He had no idea how long they had been sitting in the god forsaken van. It could've been twenty minutes, but it felt like an hour. He really wasn't looking forward to it; the house could be a mansion for all he cared. He wanted to go back to Fukuoka. He missed his friends, he missed his school, he missed the people he dated, and he just missed everything. He had been planning on applying for the school's agriculture department, as he knew that earning a scholarship from it would be extremely beneficial. But once again, he was subject to doing what his father, and _only _his father, wanted.

He leaned his head against the cool glass of the window, wanting the pounding headache to disappear. The ride was deafeningly silent, but it wasn't like he wanted it to change.

Hito glanced to his right at his son curled up away from him.

"Tetsuhiro…"

"Don't talk."

"Son… please…"

"No."

"I can't even apologize?"

"Apologize for what?" Tetsuhiro shrugged and sighed, not having the energy to argue. He was honestly tired, both physically and emotionally. As much as he hated the thought of moving to a brand new house, he really couldn't wait to get inside and lay down on one of the soft beds and sleep his life away. It wasn't like it would go anywhere at this rate, anyway.

"For… making you stressed."

That was what he thought he'd say. "Why apologize? You'll do it again anyway." He closed his eyes, trying to drift off to sleep.

"Tetsuhiro, you know I didn't mean to. You're not the only that's worried about this move. Okay? I apologize for acting the way I did."

"It means a lot to me." He lied. "Wake me up when we get there."

"Son."

"No. Wake me up when we get there."

And that was exactly what he did, for the first time. Well, he had already awoken a bit when the van crawled along the bumpy cobblestones. When he awoke fully, Tetsuhiro was too shocked that his father did something he asked of him that he didn't get out of the van for a few seconds. It was colder than in Fukuoka; they must've been closer to the water. He sniffed the air curiously, smelling the salt in the moisture.

"Is there a bay nearby?"

"The realtor said there was… apparently it's just beyond those woods." Hito pointed to a thick stretch of trees interrupted by a sand path. It looked like it would be Tetsuhiro's favorite place, somewhere that he could have privacy and peace.

Tetsuhiro had managed to calm his temper and start to respect his surroundings a bit more. Or else, he would just have to deal with this fact of life. The house really was enormous; it loomed in front of the clouds like a great brick titan. He was right when he had called it a mansion; it really was exquisite. Steps led up to the stained glass front door which was framed by chestnut pillars. These pillars supported the fenced balcony outlining the second floor. It winded around the entire floor, stopping where it met two small globe lights that sat atop each of the fence poles. The story was littered with stained glass windows; he guessed it was some kind of greenhouse or else a sunroom. The bricks were dark brown and dry mahogany, making the house seem even more threatening. He suddenly wondered how in the world his father could afford something this grand and antique.

"It's huge…" He said dumbly, fingers tampering with the ends of his gray t-shirt. His knuckles brushed the hard, smooth skin of his abdomen and he made a mental note to search the house for a weight room.

"I told you it was. Beautiful, isn't she?" Hito chewed the tip of his pipe between his teeth, eyes flicking back and forth across the structure. They stood out on the cobblestones, admiring what he paid for.

"How old is this place?" Tetsuhiro bent down and picked up a few of the stones; they felt stale.

"Well, deciphering from the history report that the realtor gave me, it was built around 1964 and was used as an inn that housed wounded war soldiers." His words were punctuated with the crunching of sneakers on stones. "Nobody has died in the house so far, but it was quarantined in 1902 for an unexpected outbreak of measles, which they assumed came from a soldier. Since then the house had been empty, since people were simply too scared to go inside."

"Then who did you buy it from?" Tetsuhiro and his father really didn't look alike. If it wasn't for Tetsuhiro's mom linking them together, you would think that he and his dad were two completely unrelated people. Green lidded eyes versus typical Asian onyx ones, layered inky hair versus the thinning mousy-gray hair, and the tall, built stature versus the tall and out-of-shape stature. Tetsuhiro was actually glad that he had inherited some of his mother's Asian-American genes. The green eyes, the thinned lips, and the soft, squishy soul of his were all gifts from her. Hito looked like your typical Japanese businessman; thin, lidded eyes, a featureless face, thin, tight lips. Tetsuhiro knew that all of his kindness was from his mother and nowhere else, and he was very grateful.

"A man had lived here before, and he lived with three women. I think that two of them left or else were kicked out for being insubordinate. One of them did stay, though. I guess she must've been his favorite. The owner did let us basically buy the house, on the condition that he is allowed inside twice a year to check up on his experiments in the greenhouse. I really wasn't given much insight about the work that he did; something to do with observing the reactions of certain creatures to certain everyday events. Sounds strange, doesn't it?"

"He has creatures here? So he's an agriculturist?" Tetsuhiro's interest was suddenly sparked at the mention of biology.

Hito shrugged, blowing lightly into his pipe. "Must be just plants and insects. I would've been told if he kept anything major here."

"Maybe he can teach me some things the next time he comes over!" Tetsuhiro smiled widely and ran up the steps to the front door. He suddenly felt as if this house had been beckoning him since his birth. "I'd love to learn the real tricks of the trade from a trained professional! I wonder if the house has a library…"

"Well, let's not just stand out here and waste time and money. Get a move on."

Tetsuhiro turned the handle and pushed the door open, eyes widening at the sight of the large foyer. It was beautiful, an expansive marble foyer surrounded by chestnut pillars and one wide staircase in the middle. On either side of the staircase were doors along the wall, one on each side, which he presumed could be studies or bedrooms or bathrooms. To the left was an open arch, which he guessed lead to the kitchen. To the right was another open arc, but peering in from where he currently stood, he could notice carpeted floor, which meant it could be the dining room. There weren't many windows inside, mainly along the area that the stairs lead to. Looking upwards, he could see two more sets of stairs on the second floor on the left and right, both which would lead to the greenhouse. The house was warm, surprisingly clean, and smelled faintly of pine trees and lemon wax.

"Wow… it's a lot bigger inside…" Tetsuhiro couldn't help but bask.

"It was kept really clean… I wonder how much he paid his maids. Or how much they had to do for him to stay."

It was the first time that Tetsuhiro had laughed all day. The irony of it was that he remembered distinctly how much his father cheated on his mother with a coworker.

"Where are the bedrooms?" He tucked his hands in his jeans pocket, looking over to his father who was opening the doors beside the stairs. He could see that they were indeed studies and not bedrooms like he wanted. He was tired despite his cheerfulness, and wanted to lie down and relax. Their steps were also really loud on the polished floor; they echoed through the entire house.

A soft clacking came from one of the halls upstairs. "Are you the new Master and Young Master?"

Tetsuhiro and his father looked up to see a maid standing atop the staircase, black ruffled dress reaching to her knees. She didn't look much older than her early thirties, with gold-brown hair tucked into a long braid. The white ruffles on her head complimented her big eyes and small but long figure.

"Yes, we are." Hito said formally, as if he would be reaching for his wallet at a banquet auction. "You're the maid, I presume."

"Yes, my name is Jessica. I am in charge of keeping this place neat and tidy, so please abide by my cleanliness, if you will. That means no shoes on in the house." She cleared her throat and descended down the staircase, heels clicking on the ancient wood. Hito simply reached down to untie his shoes, while Tetsuhiro flushed pink and darted back to the door, untying his sneakers. "And you two are?"

"Hito Morinaga." Hito bowed a bit, and then motioned to his side. "And this is my seventeen year old son, Tetsuhiro."

"Nice to meet you both." She smiled and looked over at Tetsuhiro. "Are you okay, Young Master?"

"S-sorry." He said to her, giving her a small bow. She giggled a bit.

"No need. It's fine. So, I suppose the Master has gone over the rules of the house with you two?" She asked, clapping her hands together.

Hito nodded. "He gave us some insight but not much. We would also be very grateful if you would help but give us a tour of the house."

"Oh, certainly. Right this way." She grinned at them, Tetsuhiro running up to catch up with them. "And do not be hesitant to talk to me; I am a mother with two children of my own."

"Oh? Do they live here too?" Tetsuhiro leaned over to make eye contact with her.

"No. I come here at five in the morning each day and leave around midnight."

"Why do you work such late hours?" Hito questioned, eyebrows raising slightly, enhancing his beady eyes.

She seemed to not know what exactly to say. She stuttered a bit, but came up with something quickly enough. "Well, with two men in the house, it usually can get quite messy, so I like to stay." Her voice was thick with whatever Asian accent she had been born with. Tetsuhiro couldn't quite pinpoint her dialect, but it sounded slightly Chinese to him.

It seemed to him like she didn't want to tell them something. But as usual, Hito didn't care, and Tetsuhiro was the only one bothered by it. He shrugged it off as just her newly-greeted jitters and followed them up the stairs, her pointing out random rooms and paths that they crossed.

"These two big rooms on the bottom floor are the kitchen and the dining room-slash-pool room. The two smaller rooms beside the staircase are the studies, feel free to use them as you like. There are two rooms on the side walls, these are laundry rooms. One is for washing, the other for picking up cleaned clothing." She led them up the stairs and stopped, waving her hand around as she pointed out rooms. "These two hallways here lead to the bathrooms all the way at the end, a west one for men and an east one for women. On the sides of the hallways are two bedrooms per hallway, the minor bedrooms. They are not gender-based like the bathrooms; feel free to pick them as you wish. Between these two staircases here is the master bedroom, which I assume that you, sir, will be using." She motioned to Hito, who flashed her a very small, appreciative grin. "These staircases lead to the third floor, which houses the Master's very own greenhouse. He has advised me to inform you that he really does not want his work disturbed, so please do not use the third floor. Has this pleased the Master and Young Master?" She clapped her hands together and bowed slightly.

Tetsuhiro nodded and smiled at her, about to speak when Hito cut him off.

"Yes, it was very informative. As we are on this topic, what is your general work schedule?"

"Well, at five AM I report to the Master's study next-door to the greenhouse upstairs to check in. I tidy up a bit, flattening out the carpets, dusting the fans and the windows and the chandeliers. Around that time, I've spent about twenty five minutes cleaning, and for the remainder of the time I like to knit and sew, which is where all the clothes in this house come from. If you ever need clothes, Young Master," She motioned to Tetsuhiro, who seemed to be in a trance before she snapped him out of it, "You can come to me and ask, alright?" He nodded, flattered. She was a very nice person, very friendly and very kind. "Then once the Master would usually wake up around seven thirty, I would cater to him, making his bed and picking up any dirty clothing and sending them to the wash basins downstairs. After that I would prepare breakfast, and the Master would leave to go to work or else hide up in the greenhouse, and I would nap on the couches."

"You don't use a bed?" Tetsuhiro felt a pang of guilt. She, the one that was most important in terms of this house, didn't have anywhere to rest her eyes?

She laughed nervously. "The Master doesn't appreciate his staff using the bedrooms…"

"No, no, don't worry about that! We'll let you use them! Do you want the master bedroom upstairs?" His hands gently brushed her wrists, and something flashed across her face, perhaps a sense of longing for someone that she could call her son.

"Tetsuhiro…" Hito growled out as a warning for him to stop.

"Ah… I'm afraid I cannot do that. The Master would be very upset, and he has already fired two other of his maids! I don't want to be the third."

"Well, what days does he usually come here to check the house? We were told there were only two days. You can use the bedroom the days that he's not here!" Tetsuhiro insisted, refusing to listen to his father's warning. He felt bad for the maid; they weren't the most important people here. If anything, _they _were the guests.

"He usually comes the first of June and the first of December, but…"

"Then that's perfect! It's August now, right? You have months to yourself!"

"But, sir…"

"No buts. Take one of the bedrooms upstairs, okay?"

"Tetsuhiro, what do you think you're doing?" Hito raised his voice for the first time since they entered the house.

"Father, butt out of this!"

"I will not!" His face was painted with anger and disbelief. "Who do you think you are? Do you realize how much trouble you could potentially be putting me in? What if he decided to show up unexpectedly one day and saw his most trusted maid somewhere that she was told to never be? Huh?"

"Stop yelling at me, dammit!" Tetsuhiro swatted at his father, hands colliding with his upper chest and pushing him back. Jessica gasped, shocked at the sudden physical tangle. "It's not my fault that you don't give a damn about anybody but yourself! There are other people in this world than just you."

"This doesn't concern anyone else, Tetsuhiro. _We _bought this house, so this concerns only us. And don't you dare raise your voice to me, son. Who do you think you are? Some big shot? You most certainly did not act this way back when…"

"Back when what, dad?" He crossed his arms and cocked his hip, Jessica's hands upon his shoulders as she hid behind him.

"Master, please don't fight…"

Hito sighed. "Back when your mother was alive."

He didn't know why, but Tetsuhiro couldn't help but choke out in blunt disdain. "I can't believe this. Is that all she is? My mother? You don't even have the balls to call her by her first name anymore, do you?"

"Watch exactly who you are talking to! What do you want me to say? That I miss her?" At this point, Hito had been pressed flat against Tetsuhiro's chest, whiskey breath raining down on him. "Is that what you want, little boy? Fine, I miss her! I miss Elizabeth! Is that what you wanted to hear, you ungrateful brat?"

"Yes it is, actually." Tetsuhiro said as calmly as he could muster. The urge to shut his eyes to block out his father's breath was overwhelming.

Hito pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing over at Jessica who wore a fearful face and hid behind Tetsuhiro for extra protection.

"Tetsuhiro, go downstairs this instant."

"Why?"

"I said go, young man. We are done having this conversation." He looked straight into Tetsuhiro's eyes, promise written all over them.

"Fine." Tetsuhiro grumbled as he descended the stairs, leaving Hito and Jessica to continue discussing the matters of the house. He couldn't help himself back there; his blood pressure had unexpectedly skyrocketed, which it never had before. He had never been an angry person before, never. He couldn't believe he had raised his voice to his father, but it had felt so good that he couldn't resist. The empowering feeling that spread throughout his body was blinding, and it made him feel invincible. He was right; he definitely got the guts to talk back from his mother.

He was anxious. He really couldn't sit still, fingers twitching as he ached to do something, _anything. _It was boring here, and he wanted to do something. Find a weight room, find a library; this house was bound to have more than the maid had told them. A greenhouse taking up the entire third floor? There was no way. He wanted to hurry up and apply for the nearby school and meet people. He missed his friends just like how he missed his teachers and coaches. He wanted to make all new friends while keeping the important old ones. Taking out his phone, he scrolled through his contacts and pressed one, typing a message.

_Hey Hiroto, are you doing anything right now?_

He tapped the phone against his leg as he paced back and forth across the foyer. He was surprised; there were no couches out, no benches, no recliners, no anything. He made his way into the pool room, gazing around at the bookshelves that winded around all four walls. He noticed a couch in the far corner, and he didn't hesitate to plop down on it, sweet relief instantly filling his body. He was so busy soothing his tight muscles that he barely felt the vibration of his phone.

_Not currently, why? Ya need something? And how did the move go? How's the house? We all miss ya._

That tugged on his heart even though he didn't want it to. _We all miss you. _It made him feel so guilty, so selfish that he left all of his friends for his father's job transfer.

_I miss you all too. I wanted to know if you could pick me up and take me to the city. This house is pretty and all, but it's in the middle of nowhere._

His eyes wandered across the many shelves of books, reading some of the titles. He read that one, and oh, that one too, and that one Hiroto had lent him one time.

_Gimme your address and I'll be over as fast as I can. I miss ya, Angel-kun._

Tetsuhiro smiled slightly at the mention of the pet name that Hiroto had given him. They had dated once or twice for small amounts of time and had spent most of their relationship battling it out in bed, but never exceeded more than that. It was just a fling, and it was a mutual decision to cut it off.

_I miss you too, Hiroto-kun. I live down the street into the forest right outside the Osaka prefecture. I have no idea what block this is…_

He wasn't even finished with the message when he glanced up, something catching his eye. At first, he didn't really understand what it was, and his body rose from the couch stealthily to investigate. Remembering to send the message, he slid his phone into his back pocket and quietly tiptoed out of the pool room, careful not to make noise on the foyer floor as he inched past the arc. Once there, his line of sight came across the item of his curiosity. A door.

He wondered why and how he hadn't seen it before. He wondered why Jessica hadn't mentioned why there was a door on the side of the staircase whilst giving her tour of the house. At first, he didn't know what it could be. Could it be a hall closet, perhaps? A utility closet? Where the coats and things were stored once dry cleaned from outside wear and tear? The suggestions rambled in his mind as he crept down and crossed the floor in one quick, quiet line, ducking under the staircase rail as to hide himself from view. He could distinctly hear his father speaking with the maid right above him, but couldn't make out the words they shared. Whilst pressed up against the wall, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but ignored it as his hands felt along the wall as they pushed him closer.

His anxiety went up with each step he took. What would be in there if he opened it? Would something pop out at him? What if the previous owner kept human bodies in there for his experiments?

Removing his body from the wall, he knelt down in front of the door, hands twitching. Carefully he reached for the bronze handle, fingers brushing against the dusty metal as they began to close in-

"Young Master, don't touch that!"

His head snapped up as his body jolted back as if it were on fire. Jessica had seen him and she looked frightful, Hito beside her with a murderous look on his face.

"Dammit, Tetsuhiro, can't I trust you to not mess things up for ten minutes?"

"Wha…" He looked from one to the other, unsure of what he had done wrong. No, he knew what he did wrong; he had invaded another person's privacy by letting his mind run wild and traveling into forbidden territory. It must've been the owner's personal utility closet if it was this well protected. "Why? What did I do?"

"Oh nothing, sweetie," Jessica hurried down the stairs, quickly stopping by his side and sliding her body between him and the door. "That's just… it's the Master's property and I've been told to keep it locked up unless he said otherwise. You really cannot go in it, I beg of you."

"Oh. I apologize for causing a fuss. I just got curious." Tetsuhiro smiled and waved his hands, face flushed with embarrassment. His father huffed in ignorance, returning upstairs with Jessica to continue their conversation. Just then it dawned on him that he forgot to check his phone. Pulling it out, he read Hiroto's last message.

_I'll find ya in no time._

He exhaled and sat back down on the couch, pulling a random book out from the shelf behind his head. He could care less what the book was about; he just felt the urge to read. He needed to get out of this house and interact with people. But more importantly, he needed to find out what exactly Jessica was hiding, and what exactly was inside that door in the staircase.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Hi guys ~ **

**So, I got a comment on the first chapter saying that I could've derived the idea from Harry Potter. I actually love Harry Potter to freaking death, however, I actually got the idea from a book I read when I was younger called ****Behind The Attic Wall**** by Sylvia Cassedy. I don't really remember what it was about, but there was this girl that couldn't leave the mansion she was living in for certain reasons, the maids wouldn't let her leave. And all she did all day was play with dolls and talk to herself, and I really liked it.**

**But yeah. I'm extremely grateful that you guys take the time to read and appreciate my stories. I'm young and I'm not the best writer, but it's what I've been doing since I was little. Before this I was writing stories into notes on Facebook and after that I wrote on Fanpop and then I migrated here. **

**So please, just leave me a nice review (: Constructive criticism is welcomed, it helps me know what I do wrong.**

**So, le warning ~ **

**Title: **The Boy In The Staircase

**Disclaimer: **Characters not mine, idea mine

**Rating: **T

**Don't really feel the need to add more than that to this warning. Besides, I'm not gonna start adding characters into it until we meet you-know-who n.n Enjoy!**

* * *

Hiroto was coming to pick him up. He was excited to see his best friend again and tell him all about his first day in the mansion, and about his father breaking his mother's things, and about the door on the side of the staircase that he found.

His father was getting ready to leave for a short business meeting, and Jessica was busy wiping the billiard balls in the pool room with a microfiber cloth. Tetsuhiro had helped her tidy up a bit in there after he had been reading and sprawling across each chair, the leather molding to the contours of his body. The chairs were so soft and comfortable, he felt like he could sleep in them. Jessica had been grateful that Tetsuhiro was helping her around the house; he thought she had way too much to do as such a young woman.

"Well, maybe you can teach me what you do every day. Teach me how to clean all the different things. I could help you." he had said to her. She was reluctant at first, afraid that she would get in trouble, but he had managed to convince her that as long as she cleaned, she was still doing her job and was still doing the right thing.

He was getting ready, tying the laces on his shoes as Jessica slung his jacket over the fabric board, ironing it out. The foyer bench gave him a perfect view of the item of his everlasting curiosity. The way the wood was old and tweaked, the swirls of rusted brass framing the globe handle. It was obviously old and obviously used, and that just kissed his interest yet again. He itched to find out just what exactly that room was used for. Yeah, maybe it was a utility closet that the owner of the house used. But what if it wasn't? What if he was using it for something else? What if he was storing human body parts in jars in there, using them in experiments to try and find a cure for cancer? What if he had dead animals hanging from bars in there? What if he had maniacal tools of torture in there? What if he and his father were basically test subjects in this house? What if-

"Young Master, your jacket is finished."

He looked up to see Jessica folding the blue fabric over her arm, pushing the sides of the board closed and walking it over to a door at the far right, next to the study. She blew a few strands of hair out of her face that had come loose from her long braid. She had brushed off her dress, loosened the knot on the strings of her apron and retied them. He suddenly flushed, realizing he had been simply watching her and hadn't thanked her. He didn't understand why he was so rude lately.

He stood and bowed quickly. "Thank you very much."

"It was nothing." She waved her hand, flashing him a smile. "It's just ironing clothing. It's nothing that bad."

"I don't know how you can handle all this each and every day," He sighed, gingerly sliding his jacket off of her arm. He fingered the collar of it thoughtfully.

"Handle what? The cleaning? I'm used to it." Jessica insisted, pulling out her microfiber cloth and wiping all the doorknobs and the staircase railing.

"Even so, it's a lot for one person to do." Tetsuhiro slid his arms into the sleeves of the jacket and pulled it on, shaking out the collar.

"Yeah, well… it was a lot easier when there were three of us…" She mumbled, sliding the cloth up and down the polished wood railing.

He glanced at her, a twang of affection going through him. "What… exactly happened to all of you?"

She seemed to tense up before letting out a quiet, dry chuckle. "The Master wanted perfect maids, which barely any of us were. There were five us to begin with, actually, and for some reason he wanted maids of different ethnicities each. I, myself, am Chinese, just like the Master. The other four maids fell into the same mold – there was Kimi, who was full Japanese, then there was Jaehee from Korea, then Harika from Turkey, and Ellie, whom the master recruited from Germany. Harika and Kimi quit within the first few weeks of work, thus why I address myself as one of the 'three maids left'."

"Why did they leave?"

Her shoulders raised in a shrug hesitantly. "The Master wouldn't tell me, and I was never acquainted with either of the girls. We were all young, too, when the Master recruited us. I first came here around eleven years old, but didn't start work until years later."

"What do you mean by recruited?"

"The Master… he… liked to save young girls' lives. And… he would recruit girls whilst they were in a period of turmoil, such as having no parents or that their country was under attack in the middle of war. I was recruited soon after a plague broke out throughout my country, and the Master brought me here. I wasn't the first one here, because when I got here, there were already girls younger than me here."

"The other maids?"

"Some of them. Ellie was the last to be recruited. She simply didn't like living the "stereotypical" German life, and decided to run away. The Master found her in eastern India living some street rats. He had said that Ellie seemed to have been protecting herself for a long time, because when he tried to take her under his wing, she had apparently put a gun to his head."

"S-she…" Tetsuhiro winced, imagining what his father would do if he tried to pull something like that.

"It's a wonder he didn't strangle her, honestly. She was rude, she talked back, and she seemed to have extreme trust issues. She had calmed down when she saw me and the others here, albeit not talking to any of us. Jaehee and I were the most talkative out of all of us. She and I were very close friends, as if we had always been best friends."

Tetsuhiro immediately thought of him and Hiroto. _Very close friends… as if we had always been best friends._

"There wasn't one day that while we were in the prime of our teenage years that we didn't try to make friends with the other girls. Harika and Kimi were very shy and friendly people, so it was much a shock when they had suddenly quit. We didn't know why. Jaehee had said that she had accidentally seen the Master trying to force himself upon them while she was heading to the restroom, but she insisted that she was tired and could have been seeing incorrectly."

"What happened then?"

"Well, Ellie wasn't pleased about the news, that's for sure." She chuckled. "Ellie was always rebellious. She hated the dress that the Master made us all wear." When Tetsuhiro glanced at her black ruffled dress, she quickly continued. "Back then, he made us all wear simple white frocks with black ribbons on the sides and white stockings. Jaehee had said that the clothing could have provoked the Master to force himself on Harika and Kimi, but we didn't want to get in trouble by gossiping so we dropped the matter. Ellie tried multiple times to escape and leave, but the Master refused, and at first he didn't want to get violent with her. But time wore away and she distanced herself more and more from us and refused to do her work, and when he had had enough, he sent her packing back to Germany. He revoked her last paycheck and that was the last we ever heard of her again."

"I bet he wasn't used to being disrespected like that…"

"Most certainly. Shortly after Ellie's dismissal, Harika had left, leaving Kimi with Jaehee and I. Harika had insisted that the Master was targeting her now, using her as his punching bag, but there was no evidence leading to this, so we all just assumed that the girl had downright lost her mind. We wondered if the Master had been using Harika for his experiments, because she acted very strangely and very sickly."

"So what happened to Kimi and Jaehee then if you're the only one left?"

"Well," Jessica cleared her throat, walking over to the kitchen to the left and tossing the soiled microfiber cloth into the garbage can, pulling a fresh, clean one out of her dress pocket, "for a while, there were no problems. We worked hard, did what we were told, and we were paid as the Master promised. We were all around your age at the time, Young Master," she nodded towards him with a small smile, and he nodded in return, "and it just seemed like something wasn't right. Kimi distanced herself from Jaehee and I, and she started to take interest in a Japanese university student named Kai. We didn't know him at all. Kimi had showed us pictures on the cell phone that the Master had bestowed her with, and we just nodded our heads and listened to her lovesick rants. She started skipping work and leaving the mansion, most likely off seeing this university student, and ended up getting pregnant. The Master was furious that she had disobeyed his orders to stay sheltered in this mansion."

"Did he… kill her?"

"No. Thankfully, no. The Master slipped into an insanity-driven depression after she had fled from the mansion with her unborn child. He constantly mumbled about his failed experiments and how we were ruining his career, and how Jaehee and I were the only trustworthy ones left, and how disrespectful and independent females are. Th…" She suddenly stopped herself just when Tetsuhiro was beginning to lean towards her in interest. She shook her head, dropping whatever it was she was about to talk about. "Around my twenty-fourth birthday, I fell in love with Jaehee's brother, Minhyun. She wasn't bothered about it at all; she was actually rooting for our love. We thought we could be secret about it, just whispering to ourselves on our break about my experiences with Minhyun when the Master wasn't home. The Master had begun to grow suspicious of me, and had eventually found out that I was dating somebody. After thoroughly investigating me in a panic, he was relieved when he found out that I wasn't pregnant yet. He was afraid that I would turn into Kimi and abandon him again. I promised the Master that I would listen to him and only have kids when and if he let me."

"Was Jaehee there to support you when you did have kids?" Tetsuhiro couldn't help but indulge himself in this conversation. Jessica reminded him so much of his mother, and he absolutely loved to talk with her, regardless of what it was they were talking about.

"She was." Jessica nodded with a smile, eyes closing almost all the way. "The Master agreed to let me have children with Minhyun, and in no time I was pregnant and soon was the mother of two wonderful, beautiful children. The Master wouldn't let them stay here with me, though, so I had Minhyun watching them all day on end. He didn't mind it, because I constantly contacted him in my free time to let him know how I was doing. But eventually, he got sick – very, very sick, and I'm thankful that my children were so young that they did not understand what it meant to be deathly sick. He eventually passed away from pneumonia a year and a half ago on April 17th, a week after Jaehee's birthday."

"Oh my god… I'm so sorry, I…" Tetsuhiro suddenly scrambled over to her side, taking her hands in his. "I'm so sorry…"

Jessica sighed. "It wasn't your fault. Eventually, the Master dismissed Jaehee of her work to let her look after my children. After all, we were his two favorite maids. Now it's only me here. Jaehee still receives child support from the Master, and I still receive my paychecks. She and I never stopped talking to each other. We still do, even to this day."

"I'm so sorry for your loss…" He stroked his thumbs across her fingers soothingly. "My mother died when I was young, too."

Jessica looked up at him. "She did? Oh… I'm sorry, honey…"

"I like talking to you. You remind me of my mother." Tetsuhiro sighed, dropping his eyes to his feet. "That's why I seem to get along so poorly with my father. I'm sorry if we frightened you. I don't like to yell, I really don't."

"I will be your mother if you want me to be, dear." Jessica smiled.

Tetsuhiro couldn't help but let loose a small laugh, feeling tears threatening to bubble out of his eyes. Laughing helped him chase away the sudden sadness. "I would like that."

A loud, very audible clearing of someone's throat was heard across the foyer, and both heads snapped to look towards the front door.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Didn't know I was interrupting ya two."

* * *

"I really missed you, Hiroto-kun." Tetsuhiro smiled and looked over at his friend in the driver's seat. Hiroto smiled, his cheekbones peaking. He was telling Tetsuhiro something about liking one of the football players on the high school's varsity team. Each time he would get to a point in his story about him and his love interest having some sort of physical contact, he would gently toss his auburn hair and blush.

"I missed ya too, Angel-kun. Everyone misses ya. Katie, that cheerleader that asked ya for an interview for the school newspaper, she keeps raving about 'cha leaving. She's been kinda depressed since ya left, Angel-kun. I think she likes ya a bit."

Tetsuhiro snorted. "She's the head journalist of the newspaper club, what do you expect? She lost the school's key to selling great newspapers and you're surprised that she's upset?"

"Ohyaaa, not my fault she talks to all the cheerleaders about 'cha. The baseball team's been suckin' lately, too. Haven't won a single game since ya left."

Tetsuhiro smiled and shook his head. "So, are you gonna make a move on that exchange-student-football-all-star you like or whatever he is?"

Hiroto blushed a little bit. Yup, he was head over heels in love with this guy. "Who, Taejoon?"

"Hahaha, so he has a name."

Hiroto growled. "Don't sass me, Angel-kun. I still haven't scored a home run wit' him, yet. Plannin' it, but miracles don't just happen."

"I bet he's good in beeeed~." Tetsuhiro drawled jokingly, laughing out loud at the redness that overtook Hiroto's face. "Oh, Hiroto's blushing, huh? What happened to the Hiroto that asked every guy in the school for a ride in his bed?"

"Dunno." Hiroto insisted with a small laugh. "He fell in love."

Tetsuhiro's face lit up and he gently smacked Hiroto's arm. "Hey, Hiroto-kun! That's naughty!"

"What about it, eh?"

"You're dreaming about some school-famous hunk rather than making a move to get him in your bed. What do you do, take secret pictures of him in the locker room and go home and masturbate to them?"

Hiroto laughed loudly. "What, ya don't do the same?"

"Hey, not my fault that Aki's got such a nice, tight butt. Couldn't resist seeing it in those gym shorts he loved to wear so much. He had a thing for me too, so it was alright."

"Yer such a player, Angel-kun."

"And why does that bother you?"

"Well, ya know, we kinda have a history together."

"That was just a friendly fling."

"Ya, if ya call rummagin' through my porn collection an' insistin' we watch some a 'friendly fling'."

Tetsuhiro smacked the dashboard, suppressing the bursts of laughter that threatened to boil over. "Where are we going anyway?"

Hiroto shrugged, absentmindedly adjusting his wristwatch. "I figured we'd catch up over lunch at a diner or som'n."

"Sounds good."

* * *

"So, how's the move been treatin' ya, Angel-kun?" Hiroto pondered as he stabbed his fork into the side of one of his salt plums.

"Well, the house is gigantic. Way much more than I know my father could afford." Tetsuhiro stirred his miso soup with one chopstick.

"Ya, I could tell just by looking at it. Musta cost him a fortune."

"Sure did." Tetsuhiro chewed at a boiled chunk of potato. "But otherwise, it isn't half big. There's so much I'd like to learn from the owner of this place. Get this – he's a registered agriculturist, and his salary is more than I've ever seen! Can you imagine how smart he is? How much he knows and how much he could teach me?"

"Wow, yer really excited about this, ain't ya, Angel-kun?" Hiroto smirked at him, tongue roving around his cheek as he cleared his teeth of the plum remnants.

Tetsuhiro nodded excitedly, a smile creeping on his lips. "The rooms are just exquisite. The owner is so rich that he has his own maid that cleans literally everything. She's so nice and friendly and takes care of me."

"Hm, seems like you be missin' yer mom more and more these days, eh?"

"There isn't one day when I _don't_ miss her, Hiroto-kun." Tetsuhiro glanced down. "The maid is just so nice and comforting, just like my mother was. My dad doesn't seem to appreciate anything about the house. He's just happy to be going back to work and making money. Well, we gotta pay the landlord one way or another."

Hiroto laughed, biting into another salt plum. "Does yer dad even have a sex life?"

Tetsuhiro choked on the broth of his soup, spluttering as he regained composure and began to breathe properly again. Hiroto laughed and leaned over to ruffle his friend's dark hair lightly.

"Don't ever say that again, Hiroto-kun. I might need an ambulance next time."

"Or my dick."

Tetsuhiro couldn't resist laughing out loud this time. He began to choke again, and his pained groans mixed with his hysterical laughter. He held his arms above his head to clear his throat and smacked Hiroto's hand with his chopsticks.

"Hey, don't hit me." Hiroto rubbed his hand and pouted. "I'm just tryna make ya laugh."

Tetsuhiro shook his head. "Oh, that reminds me!" He suddenly looked up to meet Hiroto's eyes. "The landlord, he's supposedly a scientist, and does experiments up on the third floor of the mansion. He's got a greenhouse up there, which is where the maid said he works. He's got all these studies and closets – and I found one on the side of the staircase."

Hiroto paused in chewing what was in his mouth. "On the side of the stairs?"

"Mhm. Strange place for a closet, isn't it? I tried to open it and find out what it was, but the maid insisted that it's locked and that it's forbidden territory. I swear, Hiroto-kun, they're hiding something from me, I just know it."

"Well, why don'tcha ask the maid about it? Maybe she'll explain to you why it's locked up."

"She said that it's the landlord's utility closet, but if it is then damn, she's awfully protective of a utility closet."

"Well, maybe that landlord o' yers has his sex dolls locked up in there."

Tetsuhiro choked on a laugh yet again. "Yeah, that'd be a sight to see."

Hiroto smirked. "I'm just happy that yer happy, Angel-kun."

"I really am, Hiroto-kun. And I'm much happier now that I get to speak with you again." Tetsuhiro smiled. "Thank you."

Hiroto waved his hand. "Anythin' for the school's favorite student."

* * *

It was very late by the time Hiroto brought him back home. They had gone to his place afterwards to watch some tv and go for a walk through the central park. It was nice and warm outside, and Tetsuhiro missed the lack of humidity that was the city. Hiroto had even insisted that they swing by the local gym, knowing that most of the school's athletes worked out there on the weekends. They had all welcomed Tetsuhiro with open arms and claps on the back. Tetsuhiro had told them what the move had been like – though he hadn't spoken a peep about the greenhouse or the door on the staircase – and they had all sympathized completely. He really missed his friends and he felt like crying when he was reunited with them.

Hiroto had left him with a chaste kiss on the cheek; he knew Hiroto had always had a thing for them, and they had had a thing in the past, but it didn't last.

Tetsuhiro didn't bother to check the time as he stumbled through the front door. It was dark, that's how late it was. He toed off his sneakers just as Jessica came trotting over to him.

"Welcome back, Young Master." She smiled and shied his jacket off, folding it over her arm. "I suppose you had a nice time?"

"Yeah, it was nice." He smiled at her and nodded. She smiled back.

"And that was your… friend?"

"Yeah. He's kinda been one of my closest friends throughout my entire middle and high school experience."

"Ah." She nodded in understanding, "He seems like a nice fellow."

"He's to me what Jaehee was to you." Tetsuhiro said softly. She looked up at him, sympathy sparking in her dark eyes.

"Oh... it's great to have a friend like that, isn't it? It's an amazing feeling." She giggled.

Tetsuhiro laughed in agreement. The conversation felt a little… awkward. He didn't want to make her feel insulted or make her feel uncomfortable.

"Have you ever been in love, Tetsuhiro-kun?"

"…Excuse me?" Tetsuhiro was surprised that she had asked that so blatantly.

"Ah… was that too much?" She bit down on her lip. "It's just… I've been in love with my husband for years now… and our love really is eternal… I didn't know if you'd ever felt anything like that…"

Tetsuhiro thought to himself for a bit. Had he really ever been in deep love before? He had had strong feelings for someone, before – Masaki, the male captain of the cheer team. All of the school cheer captains were males, because they never had to engage in the choreographed routines. Sometimes the captains actually helped with the choreography.

"…No, I don't think I have." He shrugged.

"I hope you do get to feel it one day, Tetsuhiro-kun." Jessica smiled at him. "It's wonderful."

Tetsuhiro looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Young Master…"

"He must've meant so much to you! And then… then he… he just died, I mean… how can somebody live on smiling and laughing after that? After loving and losing someone like that, how can you just live normally? Doesn't it hurt?"

"It hurts an awful lot. But mourning over it isn't going to bring him back." She said quietly. "I still have my kids, and I still have Jaehee. It's not the end of the world. I loved him to death, I certainly did. I cried a lot when I found out he passed away. The Master felt bad that I was working so little and had resolved myself by laying on the chair in the billiard room most of the day. I never wanted to work, I never wanted to eat. It made him irritated that a maid wasn't doing what she was told, but I just couldn't, I physically and emotionally _couldn't. _It took a lot of convincing from both the Master and Jaehee to get me to start to accept Minhyun's death. I wanted to take my own life to be with him, but I couldn't just leave my children alone like that. I couldn't take away both of their parents for my selfishness. I had to live on for them and for myself. I currently make more as a worker than Jaehee does, because I've been a maid here the longest and the Master has put up with me the most." She laughed dryly. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say he's in love with me. But he's told us that he doesn't have time for love; it gets in the way of his experiments."

Tetsuhiro was taken aback. "That's horrible! Love is a wonderful thing; it's the world's best medicine. There's no way anybody can be one hundred percent at-peace with themselves if they don't have love to give and don't have love to get."

"I know." Jessica sighed and wiped her hands on her apron. "But, that's all dust in the wind now. And anyhow, you should be getting ready for bed, Young Master. Your father is already in his room."

"What time is it exactly?"

"10:42 PM."

Wow… it was late. "Alright, I'll get on up to bed. You should go to bed also." He pointed her way. "Remember what I told you, and ignore my dad's protests. If your boss isn't here and you keep the house spic-and-span, there's no way of him knowing that you use one of the bedrooms, is there?"

"…I suppose not." She nodded reluctantly, and it made Tetsuhiro smile. "Now hurry along, get some rest."

Tetsuhiro felt so flattered that he had connected with this stranger on such an emotionally familiar level. He had always used Hiroto to pour his emotions to, but he had never had a mother figure around. He missed his mother a lot more than he missed Hiroto, or his friends at school, or the experiences he had becoming one of the school's most prestigious athletes, or the house he grew up in. His mother went above and beyond all of those things. She was the one he had to thank for giving him life.

Something began to bother him deep inside, and questions began to roil in his stomach like vomit. He couldn't help but constantly wonder about this house, and why Jessica refused to tell him certain things, and it felt like it was eating a hole in his gut.

"Oh, Jessica?" He suddenly turned around, stopping her as she was walking away. She peered at him curiously.

"Yes?"

He had to find out what she was hiding from him. He _had _to.

"Can you show me what's in that room over there?"

To solidify what he meant, he pointed straight at the old wooden door on the side of the staircase. Jessica looked frightened.

"I… I said it was locked! I don't have a way in, Young Master." She became extremely jittery, twirling her fingers around each other as she looked from the door to Tetsuhiro, trying to find an escape route. "And even if I did, the Master has forbidden me from going into there and has forbidden me from letting anybody else in there!"

"I just want a peek, Jessica. Please?" He folded his hands in front of his face and pouted at her, playing the puppy dog card.

"Young Master, I… I can't. What if the Master finds out? That's his property, and I've worked too hard and too long to jeopardize my career!"

"How will he find out? You give me the key, I unlock it, peek inside, close the door, and lock it back up and hand you the key. How will he find out?"

Her lips opened and closed like a fish as she stuttered for a response.

"I'm really sorry I'm causing you stress, but I'm so curious what's in there! It's not like I'm touching his greenhouse, is it?"

She shook her head, hands sliding up the staircase railing. She stared at the door, boring a hole in it with her heat vision.

"I promise, I won't touch anything. I won't touch his experiments, I won't mess up anything. I just want a peek. Please?"

Jessica had seemed to give up on her resolve. There really was no way out of this, with how stubborn Tetsuhiro was. Plus, she felt guilty turning him down. He was young and curious, and she remembered exactly what it felt like to be seventeen. It was a very touchy age, and she wanted everything that she couldn't have. If only Tetsuhiro knew what he was really getting into; if only he knew what was really in that room on the side of the stairs.

"Fine." She sighed as she fished around in her dress pocket and handed him the key. "But please, don't scare him."

* * *

**A/N Hahaha, Tetsuhiro's and Hiroto's playful banter makes me laugh.**

**So I really struggled to make this chapter long like the last chapter, so I'm sorry if I stretched out the conversations too much ;-;**

**And yes, Ellie was completely based off of Ellie from The Last of Us. Great game, anybody played it? I have, and the commercials on tv still make me so excited!**

**And also, tell me if you would rather me put this story into the M-rated section when it starts getting more explicit and dirty, or if you would rather me keep it in the T-rated section and have me just put a warning on the explicit chapters. Even though… I'll… put a warning anyway…**

**Review and favorite please ~ **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hi there c:**

**So I have prepared this story to be very angsty and possible violent and/or gruesome in some way or another. It's soft, but it's dark. I don't really have a lot to say in this author note, other than the fact that I know that they might seem out of character sometimes in my stories, but I try my best. (:**

**I'm writing like three other stories at the same time as this. I'll probably end up being that kind of author, the one with five hundred unfinished stories that slowly get updated.**

**And now we finally get to meet you-know-who kekekeke n.n**

**Warning:**

**Title: **The Boy In The Staircase

**Disclaimer: **Characters not mine, idea mine

**Rating: **T

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Fine. But please, don't scare him."_

Don't scare him? What? Who? What did she mean by that?

Tetsuhiro looked down at the little brass key in his palm that she had handed him. It was attached to a thin black string, like it was a means of keeping the key safe, making it easier to see it if they ever lost it. Why was this key so important that they did this? He had seen the key cabinet in the pool room and none of the other keys were on strings. What made it so special? This door?

"Don't scare who?" Tetsuhiro mumbled and turned around, but by the time he did, Jessica was gone. _Oookay. She was acting strange… did I offend her? I hope not. I never had enemies… everyone at school always liked me…_

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he bit down on his lip and reached for the handle. Shaky fingers slid across the brass as the key grinded against the lock. It fit perfectly; it was indeed for this door. Why was Jessica so shaken up about it though?

Taking a deep breath and double checking that nobody was around to watch him and yell at him, he turned the key in the lock, and pulled the door open an inch.

He didn't want to jerk it all the way open so suddenly, in case something shocking decided to come flying out at him. Well… that part was probably an exaggeration… what kind of strange things would be kept in a hall closet?

His muscles worked slowly and anxiously at pulling the door all the way open, and it was a little creaky, so every movement made him cringe and hope that nobody heard him. Taking a step inside, he exhaled.

It looked like a bedroom; it was a small, octagonal room with a big double bed to the right which stretched towards the left wall, another little open room in the back which looked like a bathroom, a desk in the far left corner with a lamp and papers scattered all over it, a wooden chest to his right on the floor, and a tall lamp and recliner in the far right corner. Was somebody living here?

_Please don't scare him… _this was a male's bedroom?

He felt inclined to feel the thick, brown bedspread, running his fingers across the soft, ridged fabric. The ceiling was inclined and sloped with the movement of the stairs, making it lower by the door and higher by the back wall.

"Whoa…" He mumbled to himself, peering up through his dark bangs as his feet carried him over to the desk. His fingers drafted across the papers, staring intently at the designs and words drawn on them in pencil. It looked like a children's book, with scribbled color-pencil words and sketches of animals and insects. What the…?

"What is this place…?" Tetsuhiro looked up and his eyes scanned across the walls. There was a large drawing of the solar system above the bed's headboard, and then there was a drawing of the food chain above the desk, and a drawing of the process of cell division by the back door. They were very intricate drawings, done in pencil and crayon, and were surprisingly accurate for what looked like children's designs. Did the landlord have a son? Tetsuhiro knew that the man was a science professor, but what would he be doing making children's drawings? He must've had a son; there wasn't any other explanation for it.

"Hello?" He called out, looking around the room for any signs of life. "Does someone live here?"

Tetsuhiro noticed a painting easel in the right corner by the chest; how hadn't he seen it before?

Walking over to it, he noticed that the person had painted a very detailed portrait of what looked like an oasis, with shining blue-white water and blurred shadows of koi and wet, mossy rocks. It wasn't a professional painting, but it was impressive to him. He whispered to himself about who painted it, wondering if Jessica could've done it.

Stepping back, he noticed the way the canvas was shining; the paint was still wet. It was fresh.

"Who is in here?" Tetsuhiro called out softly. "Don't worry, you can come out." He listened for any movement, but couldn't hear any. "I like your painting. It's very pretty. Did you make it yourself?"

He heard a soft rustle behind him, like the movement of clothing, and he turned around. Was somebody in here? They must've been; where were they?

Looking towards the bathroom door, the thought that he hadn't checked the bathroom yet crossing his mind, he took a careful step forward. The wood in that specific path was creaky and weak, and it echoed loudly. He cringed, body locking up.

His eyes had just looked up, and he barely registered the sight of long blonde hair and scary eyes before he felt a dull yet sharp pain ripple through his arm. The blow made him slightly disoriented and he slouched down to his knees, hand rising to squeeze his bicep where he was hit. Pulling back, he didn't notice any blood; what the hell? What was he hit with that hurt but didn't make him bleed?

Raising his head, he noticed a figure standing nearly eight feet from him, just outside the bathroom door. It was a boy, with long blonde hair that cascaded over his shirt to his waist and long, slender legs. His face was turned in a dark expression, and his eyes were squinted and narrowed, almost as if he couldn't see him properly. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue sweater that was way too big for his lean body, the hem reaching almost to his knees and the sleeves cuffed to accommodate his hands, and slouched white calf socks.

"Who the fuck are you?" His voice was soft yet gravelly, and it didn't sound all that deep. How old was he? Was he the one who was living here? How long had he been here?

"I… I live here now." Tetsuhiro mumbled, slowly and cautiously standing up. "This is my house now." The boy was holding a small gun between shaky hands; did he shoot him? But then why wasn't he bleeding? "Is this your room?"

"You don't belong in here." The boy mumbled, avoiding the question. "Who let you in here?"

Tetsuhiro cocked his head. "Jessica did. She gave me a key to this room. See?" He pointed behind him to the door, where the key was still nestled safely inside the doorknob.

The boy tightened his lips. "You shouldn't have come in here."

"I just got curious, I apologize." Tetsuhiro raised his hands. "I didn't mean to intrude upon you; I'm not a bad person."

"Fuck you." The boy spat out. "You're all bad people." Well, he had a sour mouth.

"We all? Who is this 'we'?"

"You, and that sick man, and every other person that went along with him."

What was he talking about? That sick man? What sick man? "I have no idea what you're talking about." He tried stepping forward a bit to ease the boy's fears, but Tetsuhiro had another thing coming.

The boy jerked back and cocked his gun, left hand wrapped protectively around the bottom. He raised it higher, probably aiming for Tetsuhiro's head. "Don't you dare take another fucking step!"

"Whoa, whoa…" Tetsuhiro whispered. "Please put the gun down-"

"No. Leave now or I'll blow your brains out."

"Okay, okay, calm down." Tetsuhiro took a step back, and the boy backed off a millimeter. "I just wanted to see what was in here. Are you alright? Who are you?"

"Get out." The words were sharp and were blended into a deep growl.

"Can I know your name?" His voice was gentle, his hands reaching ever-so-slowly out to try and touch the boy. All he wanted to do was just run his fingers comfortingly through the long blonde strands, just coax him into relaxing, tell him that he wasn't in any danger –

"Don't touch me!"

Another shock of pain erupted in the right side of his abdomen, the sound of gunfire echoing through the small room.

"Ah... sorry…"

The boy cocked the gun again and stepped forward, aiming it down at Tetsuhiro's head. "Get out. Now. You don't belong here."

"Can I just know your name? I promise I won't hurt you-"

"Five seconds. Get up and leave; you have five seconds."

"I don't want to hurt you. My name's-"

"I don't fucking want to know who you are!" The boy barked at him. He was surprisingly violent for being so attractive and thin; Tetsuhiro thought he was ridiculously cute and just wanted to gather the boy in his arms and hold him. He wondered how old he was. "This is my room and you invaded my privacy!"

"How old are you?"

"Why the fuck do you care about me? Leave my fucking room before I blow your brains out!"

Sighing, Tetsuhiro stood up straight and backed up towards the door.

"I'm very sorry for disturbing you. I'll lock the room back up and leave you be."

Eyeing him up and down, the boy took a wary step forward, slightly jerking the gun in the direction of the door.

"Move."

Tetsuhiro felt the end of the gun press against his chest; this kid really was serious. He wasn't all that scared of him; he had lived with his father all his life, and plus whatever it was that the boy was shooting him with wasn't lethal so he didn't feel like he was in any real danger.

When the boy flicked his wrist to jerk the gun and signal for Tetsuhiro to leave, the black-haired male caught something out of the corner of his eye. He ignored the angry stare and squinted, trying to notice that flash of whatever it was to appear again.

He had seen something inside the boy's sleeve, something on his arm. What was that?

"What's on your arm?"

He noticed the way the boy suddenly became touchy and shifted around, unusually antsy. It looked like his guard had been broken and he was now afraid of something..

"What do you mean? N-nothing's on my arm. Now get out before I-"

The boy wasn't able to finish his sentence when Tetsuhiro suddenly reached for one of his wrists, trying to push back the cotton sleeve as gingerly as possible in case it was a flesh wound that he was suffering from.

"What the fuck are you doing, you freak?! Get off me!" The boy jerked his hand back and fired the gun a few more times, pricks of pain igniting across Tetsuhiro's body. He cocked the gun and slid a couple more shots into the barrel. Was he using a BB gun? Is that why Tetsuhiro wasn't bleeding?

"I don't mean to hurt you." Tetsuhiro widened his eyes, taking his hands back and holding them up. "I don't want to hurt you. Believe me. I just… what's on your arm? Are you in pain?"

"That's none of your fucking business." The boy grumbled. "Why don't you listen to instructions? I said to leave."

"I could bring you some gauze and ointment-"

"I said leave!"

He heard a shot dance off of the wall next to his head, and he backed off exponentially, hand resting on the brass knob. The boy flicked the gun again, ushering him out.

"You need to leave now. You don't belong in here."

"Alright." Tetsuhiro tried to force his lips into a gentle smile, sliding the brass key back out of the lock and pulling the door shut. "My name's Tetsuhiro… by the way. Morinaga Tetsuhiro."

"Leave me alone."

Nodding and appreciating his innocent plea for privacy, he shut the door tight, key grinding back into the handle and turning into the locked position. He couldn't help but sigh. This house was suddenly so much more than he or his father had been prepared for. Should he tell his father about this when he got home? No… that would be bad. He would probably have the boy killed or else kill Tetsuhiro for disobeying his orders to not go snooping around where he shouldn't.

How long had this boy been in this room? Why had nobody mentioned that there was another person living in this house? Why was he in a bedroom under the stairs, of all places? Who had brought him here? How old was he? What was his name? Why didn't Jessica want him to go into the room? Because there was a boy in there? What was so special about him that she wanted to keep him secret?

Rubbing his face, he looked down at the stringed key in his palm. He would ask Jessica who that boy was. Why the hell was he here and nobody was told that he lived here? Was he some sort of prisoner? Did he used to be a maid just like Jessica and the other females? But then, why was he in a room under the stairs? Did the landlord know about this boy being here?

He was a rather adorable person, just the type that Tetsuhiro would've gone for back in school. Tall and lean, pretty face, beautiful cat-like eyes, prominent cheekbones, an angular jaw, nice voice, nice attitude. Well, nice in the sense that it was really sexy to him. He had had his share of bratty relationship partners before, but none that willingly shot him with a BB gun. This kid was entirely something new.

He wanted to go back inside and wrap his arms around the boy and kiss his head and tell him to calm down and that Tetsuhiro wasn't a bad person, but it wasn't the moment for that. Surely he would need time to cool down from being so riled up.

Tetsuhiro bit his lip and swung the key around on the string. Somewhere upstairs, he heard the faint sound of heels clicking on carpet and looked up. Jessica was descending the staircase above him at a rather rapid speed, and her face was contorted with worry. What happened?

"Young Master, are you alright?" She instantly clasped her hands around his wrists. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Huh? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Tetsuhiro smiled. He was happy that she had let him into the room. Whether or not the boy living in there was a bad thing or not, he was happy that she had listened. At least he wasn't deafeningly curious anymore.

Jessica pursed her lips. "I heard the gunfire. I suppose he didn't take nicely to you?"

She knew about him having a gun? Had she been the one that gave it to him? Why didn't she warn Tetsuhiro beforehand?

"Not really." Tetsuhiro chuckled, rubbing his arm. "It hurt, but it didn't make me bleed."

"How many times did he shoot you, Young Master?" Her hands had gone to the waist of his shirt where she began pulling it up over his head. It hurt him, but with some maneuvering they managed to get the fabric off. She ran her finger over the red, unbroken welts; surely the boy must've been close to him for the wounds to be this deep. They really were at the edge of bleeding; any closer and Tetsuhiro's skin would've burst in multiple spots from the impact. She could see where the skin had broken, deep enough for it to get infected if not cared for, but not deep enough to bleed.

"I think five or six times. Most of them were on my abdomen, but some of them got my arms."

Jessica inhaled through her teeth, fishing around in her dress for a cloth and a small bottle of all-purpose cleaner. Unscrewing the top of the bottle, she poured a tiny bit on the cloth before running it over Tetsuhiro's taut abdomen. "The welts will bruise. Luckily you weren't in close enough range to get seriously hurt."

"Why did he have the gun anyway?"

"Ah…" Jessica laughed nervously. Her face twitched continuously, and she was trying to shake her head enough to make her hair come loose from its plait and hang over her face so she could hide in it.

"How long has he been here?"

She was quiet, trying her hardest to avoid the question as best she could. She bit down on her bottom lip and scrubbed the welts a little bit harder.

"What was on his arm? I saw something on him beneath his sleeve. Is he okay?"

Again, no reply. Just cold cleaner on his naked skin and her stifled breathing.

He was getting annoyed. "Why aren't you answering my questions?"

"Young Master…" She whispered, pouring a little bit more of the blue cleanser on cloth. "We need to have a long talk after I'm done tending to the wounds. I'll get some bandages and ointment and put them on you so the welts don't get infected. I suggest you refrain from putting any clothing on until the cleanser has dried; it's a liquid muscle relaxant that you apply on the skin, so it'll help with the pain." Tetsuhiro hadn't really registered the distant throbbing pain in different places of his body until now.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, Young Master." She folded the cloth up and tucked it back into her dress pocket, wiping her moist hands on her apron. "He's always had a sensitive temper, so it's no surprise that he didn't take a liking to you."

"Does my father know about him?"

"…No." She turned around and walked into the kitchen, and Tetsuhiro could hear her rifling through the cabinets. The distance made him raise his voice when he spoke.

"Does the landlord know about him?"

"Yes…"

"What about the other maids?"

She sighed and came back out of the kitchen with a small white box and a white tube. "How about we just wait until I'm finished so that we can sit in the billiard room and talk? Hm?"

"Alright."

The ointment felt nice and smelled even nicer. Tetsuhiro liked the sensations it gave him; at first it was freezing cold and tingly but then it slowly warmed and he adjusted to it. Jessica's fingers were gentle and comforting just like a mother's, and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Come to think of it, that muscle relaxant cleanser worked awfully fast; the pain had started to go away and he didn't feel like his body was so locked up anymore. He made a mental note to go back into the room later when the boy was asleep and collect the loose BBs as well as the gun. He would probably get hit for it if he went back in a third time after that, so he decided that the second time would be the last.

He wasn't sure how long he would be able to last with his proposition. Now that he discovered something new, he wanted more and more of it until he couldn't have it anymore. Seeing the boy only two times at the risk of his physical well-being? He wouldn't be able to keep that up. The newness was too much, and even as he stood in the foyer half-naked with a female rubbing ointment on his abdomen, he was having sensual thoughts about the boy.

How old was he? If he was around Tetsuhiro's age, then surely he would've been mature enough for any advances. Did he know what sex was? Had anybody ever taught him about the birds and the bees before? What was Jessica to him? Was he straight? Gay? Had he ever been in a relationship before? Had he ever had his first kiss? Did he ever have a fling with any of the maids that used to be here? There was so much he wanted to know that it almost hurt him.

"Alright, Young Master," Jessica's soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You're all bandaged up. Let's go sit in the billiard room and talk. Come on."

* * *

Jessica was antsy; the Master had told her to never, ever reveal to the boy to the world until he was eighteen years old. She was told to never tell anybody of his work or what he was doing with the boy, but she couldn't help it. Tetsuhiro was just an innocent, spunky teenager, and she remembered exactly what it was like to be that age; lonely, thirsty for communication, and full of hormones.

She knew that the Master had told her to never say anything to the boy about the outside world, to never show him anything about the outside world, and to never tell the outside world about him. It was a threat, and it was putting her entire career and family at stake. She had kids to take care of, a family to raise, and without money, she couldn't raise them.

She felt extremely bad for turning Tetsuhiro down, because she knew that he really did nothing wrong. He was curious, and even she knew what that was like. She had been curious at that age, too, but it had ended with severed friendships and heartbreak. This was his battle now, and if he wanted to fight it, then so be it.

"Okay…" She paced back and forth in front of the couch, where he currently sat staring at his fingers. "Where do you want me to start?"

Tetsuhiro raised his head and looked at her with innocent puppy eyes. "Who is he?"

She sat in the arm chair, smoothing out her dress. The words felt abnormally thick coming out, as if her tongue was blocking them from being expelled. Her throat was dry and she swallowed before speaking. "Souichi."

…Souichi. That was his name?

"Does he have a last name?" Tetsuhiro asked, cocking his head to the left slightly and ruffling his hair.

Jessica shook her head. "Nobody ever told me if he did. It never bothered him. He likes being called Souichi, so we just went with it and left it alone."

He chewed on his lip. Souichi… Souichi… the name felt like expensive wine on his tongue, something he felt he could never get tired of once he had a taste. It was a cute little name, and it seemed to fit his appearance. It was beautiful with a hint of threatening, just like he was.

"How old is he? And, how long has he been here?" His body leaned forward of its own accord. He would willingly gossip about the beautiful creature that was Souichi all day if he could. He felt a pang of guilt; he saw how much Jessica was practically pushing the information out of her like it was a tapeworm.

Jessica swallowed, showing how nervous she was. "Well… that's the thing…"

"Did… did something happen to him?" He didn't like the tone of her voice; was he alright? Was he deathly ill?

"He… was rescued… by the Master." She said without looking at him. Rescued…? "When he was five years old, the Master had been on a business trip up in northern Nagoya. Souichi was there with his parents at the expo, and they were doing a report on reactions between everyday materials, like sand or sugar or rocks. His father was an insect enthusiast, and his mother was a top-of-the-line chemist. I even had the luck of meeting her once or twice in her lifetime. Of course, at that age, I was young, so I didn't understand much of what they talked about. They were extremely intelligent and friendly people; you just _had _to love them."

So that's where all the scientific paintings in the bedroom came from. The solar system, the food chain, they were all things that kids shouldn't have learned yet were plastered across his bedroom walls in intricate designs and patterns.

"So…" Tetsuhiro started, furrowing his brow under his black hair. "What happened that he was… rescued?"

"Something went wrong that night," Jessica continued, "and nobody was really sure what caused the problem. One of the reactors had exploded, nobody really knew how or why, and the room had caught fire. The Master had called the fire department and had told everyone to get out, and most of them did. Souichi's parents had been trying to pack away their equipment as fast as they could so they could save as much as possible, but the building was collapsing around them. They had gotten trapped under some rubble and had burned to death in the fire, all while Souichi watched."

"Oh my God…" He couldn't describe the pain that flooded through him in that moment even if he tried. He couldn't put a name to the guilt he felt. He couldn't imagine the amount of emotional trauma that the boy had gone through, and it was impressive that he was still so sturdy and held together. It was no wonder the blonde boy had been so offensive with him. He had no idea that Souichi had gone through that, had no idea that _that _was the reason he said he hated people so much. But wait… he said he also hated "that sick man". Who was that sick man? His father? If it was then why didn't he mention his mother as well? No, it couldn't have been his father… was it the landlord?

"The Master," Jessica cleared her throat, "as I told you before, rescued women in times of agony and despair. You're probably wondering why he had taken Souichi if he wanted women. Well, the boy had always resembled a female to him and it made no difference. Plus, he had been friends with the child's parents, and he couldn't just let Souichi rot away without a family like that."

So he had been here since he was five. How old was he? Maa, he'd probably find that out if he asked him himself. He wondered if Jessica even knew how old he was; would she?

"He had been here all this time…" Tetsuhiro mumbled to himself, staring at his hands.

"I apologize deeply for him striking you." Jessica reached over to gently run her fingers across one of his hands and smiled slightly. "We all knew about him. All of us that worked here knew about him. And when the other maids were here, Ellie got along with him the best. We all assumed it was just both of their bad tempers coming together in harmony, which it probably was. She hated everything, and so did he. She didn't like him feeling helpless, though, so she gave him that BB gun with reusable BBs. She knew he wouldn't really have much to do with it, but it gave him a sense of protection. That's why he shot at you; he didn't know who you were and felt threatened."

"But then… what was on his arm? Did he shoot himself?"

She bit down on her lips. "I can't tell you that information. He's asked me to never tell anybody."

Oh.

He knew that Jessica most likely wouldn't know his most personal information, like his full name or his sexuality or his exact age and birthday, so he shoved those aching questions to the back of his mind for now. Something still didn't add up, though. If he was really just this innocent yet emotionally scarred kid like Jessica played him out to be, then why didn't anybody tell Tetsuhiro and his father that the kid had lived here? Why didn't anybody mention that there was a violent teenager living underneath the stairs? Why?

He looked at her. "Why didn't anybody tell us he was here?"

She cocked her head and furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"When we moved in," Tetsuhiro explained, "my father and I were given a complete verbal tour of this house. Not just by you, but by the landlord, also. He told us where everything was, although you definitely helped by physically showing us. We had been given full blueprints to the architecture of the house in case we ever wanted to renovate. Why wasn't there a room marked on the staircase if there's a person living in there? Why didn't he tell us?"

She was silent. Something just wasn't right here. Why was she being so stingy? It was just a question.

"Jessica." His voice was flat and forceful. "What is going on in this house?"

She looked up at him with dark, frightful eyes. "T-the Master…"

"What about him? Why won't anybody tell us what the hell is going here?"

"Souichi is in danger." She spat out before she could think it over twice.

Danger? What the hell did she mean by danger? What kind of danger could somebody who lived alone with a female maid in a completely isolated room be in?

"What do you mean he's in danger?"

"The Master…" She stood and bit her fingernails. "He… there's a reason he brought Souichi back."

"Yeah, you told me. He resembled a female."

"No…"

Now she was lying to him? Okay, this needed to stop, and it needed to stop now.

"Why are you lying to me, Jessica?" He asked in a hurtful voice. "I just want to know who he is!"

"He's in danger, Tetsuhiro." She knelt down and took both of his hands in her smaller, manicured ones. "I was so grateful that somebody your age had finally moved into this house, but I couldn't tell you that. The Master had threatened… that… if I ever told anybody… I'd lose my job, but… I've loved Souichi like a son for as long as I can remember… and I would do anything for him…"

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You need to get him out of here."

"What?"

"The Master is sick." …So the landlord was "that sick man"? Slower and slower, bit by bit, everything seemed to begin to fall into place and make perfectly clear sense.

"Sick… what kind of sick?"

"He's twisted. He… he thought it would be a good idea to raise people… up from when they were very little… completely isolated from the outside world, and then just… just release them into the world on their eighteenth birthday. He tried it with the other maids, he tried it with Jaehee, and he tried it with me. And now Souichi is his new pet."

Pet?

"You need to get him out of here. I don't know what will happen to Souichi if the Master frees him suddenly. The boy is already so emotionally unstable, and the sudden loneliness of being outside of his room would shatter him. You need to get him out here, somewhere safe, somewhere where he won't be found and somewhere that he's comfortable with. I advise you to let him cool down for the night, as he got awfully hyper earlier, and try talking to him again tomorrow. I can come in with you and explain the situation and that you're not a bad person, but I need you to do this for me and him."

"But what about the landlord?"

"If it costs me my job, then so be it. Jaehee can work and I can take over watching the kids. She is my best friend, after all." She smiled up at Tetsuhiro, softly caressing his face. "Souichi needs a best friend more than he needs anything else. I don't expect him to anywhere near start liking you tomorrow, but please, just try for me."

It was all she said before pushing Tetsuhiro's hair back, kissing his forehead, and walking out into the foyer.

He slouched back in his seat; Jesus Christ, how had he gotten himself into this situation? He felt so guilty; he had been having sexual thoughts about the blonde boy earlier without realizing that that could potentially be putting him through even more emotional trauma. Was he really that heartless of a person?

He needed a friend; no, a best friend, and Tetsuhiro could completely sympathize. He thoroughly understood how alone the boy must have felt all these years, how alone he must've been feeling right now. He couldn't imagine how many nightmares the boy probably had, how many tears he probably shed. How was he so strong through all of this?

Tetsuhiro remembered when his mother had died. He had loved her with every cell in his being, and when he discovered of her death, he hadn't gone to school for a little over a week and had barely eaten. It was the worst state of depression he had ever experienced in his life, and it hurt more than any physical pain in the world could. He had never felt so completely _alone, _had never felt so helpless. It was soon after that he started dating, needing somebody else's company. Then he met Hiroto, and everything calmed down. Yes, Souichi needed a best friend. He needed a best friend that was what Hiroto was to Tetsuhiro. And Tetsuhiro would more than welcome become that best friend.

He craned his neck to peer at the wooden door on the side of the stairs. It was always quiet in there; what was the boy doing? Did he talk to himself? Did he sleep a lot? What did he do in his spare time?

This wasn't a game to him; this was determination. He was determined to find out what exactly the boy was to the landlord, and what exactly the landlord was to the boy. He was determined to win over Souichi's love and affection, even if it killed him in the long run. This was determination, and he was determined to learn more about the boy in the staircase.

* * *

**A/N So yeah. An update, lol.**

**This really wasn't that easy to write, believe it or not. It seems too naked to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid.**

**While I'm writing this, I'm writing Puppet, I'm writing Animal Magnetism in the Chronicles of Vladimir Todd page, and I started a new story that I'm working really hard on. I was thinking of posting the first chapter just as basically an introduction to the story, and it will be a way of seeing if you guys like the idea of what the story is, or if you don't. So please, just give me encouragement c:**

**Aaaand the wonderful SOPA is back trying to overrule the government. Did you know they're trying to make, and I quote, "Drawing fan art, writing fan fiction, singing song covers, or having music playing in the background of a video." Illegal and punishable by jail time? Do they understand how many living people that makes up? Basically, take every single fandom in the world; Doctor Who, Supernatural, yaoi fandoms, and pretty much every anime in the world has a fandom. Arresting all of those people, would be like emptying all of America. I hope there's free wifi in jail.**

**Sooo, yeah, favorite, follow and review please ^_^**

**Kamsamnidaaa.**

**-Brittany**


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